Pant-like disposable absorbent garments are in common use in today's society. For example, disposable absorbent underwear for incontinence and enuresis conditions, disposable training pants, and disposable menstrual panties are common in the marketplace. It is desirable to make such products as much like normal cloth underwear as possible. For example, wearers of incontinence and enuresis garments generally wish to conceal the fact that they are wearing such products, and therefore desire the garments to resemble normal cloth underwear as closely as possible. In another example, children wearing training pants take pride in the fact that they are no longer wearing diapers, and providing them with a disposable training pant product that closely resembles real underwear supports this process. It is also important that such garments provide a snug and secure fit, both to provide comfort to the wearer and to minimize leakage of bodily waste out of the absorbent garment.
For example, it is common for many products to include waistbands or leg bands, often elasticized, to provide improved fit, leakage management, and underwear-like aesthetics. In one conventional approach, the waist edge of a disposable absorbent garment is folded over. However, in such conventional products, the folded edge region is the same color as the remainder of the waist region; as a result, the folded waistband is generally not visible to a viewer, because the folded waistband “blends in” with the color of the underlying material. In another approach, a waistband graphic is printed onto the garment in the vicinity of the waist opening to resemble a separately attached waistband. However, such an approach can introduce undesirably process complexity, equipment cost, and ink expense. In still another conventional approach, a separate waistband material is provided and attached to the garment. While this approach can provide a more garment-like look in many instances, it introduces additional process complexity and expense, and introduces additional cost associated with raw material procurement and inventory.
Therefore, there remains a need for pant-like disposable garments that better resemble normal cloth underwear.